Practice Areas

White Plains Lawyers for Charges of Driving While Intoxicated

If you’ve been charged with an alcohol-related offense, the stakes are far higher than you may realize. What happens in court now can affect what happens in court should you be charged with driving while intoxicated in the future. Moreover, the police are obliged to respect your rights and follow proper procedures when investigating you in connection with a driving while intoxicated (DWI) charge or a driving while ability impaired (DWAI) charge. In New York, penalties for alcohol-related offenses include loss of driving privileges, fines, and jail time. Our experienced White Plains DWI defense lawyers may be able to represent you and advocate for your rights in connection with these charges. The Law Office of Mark A. Siesel represents those charged with DWI, aggravated DWI, felony DWI, administrative license hearings, and other criminal offenses.

DWI

You may be charged with a per se DWI under VTL 1192-2 if your blood alcohol content is found to be at least .08. Your license will be suspended pending prosecution, though our lawyers may be able to seek a hardship license on your behalf, so that you can drive to work, school or doctor’s visits. You should not assume a conviction for the charges is assured. It may be appropriate for us to challenge evidence obtained during the stop if you were pulled over in violation of your Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. We may be able to defend you by challenging the outcomes of field sobriety or chemical tests performed after you were pulled over or when you were arrested.

DWAI

We represent clients charged with DWAI under VTL 1192-1. You may be convicted if prosecutors can show beyond a reasonable doubt that alcohol impaired your ability to operate a car or other vehicle. In some cases, DWAI is a lesser included offense when misdemeanor DWI is charged under VTL 1192.2 and VTL 1192.3.

Any amount of alcohol could affect your judgment and ability to safely operate a car or other vehicle. There is no set amount of alcohol that results in impairment. Factors that can affect degree of impairment include the quantity of alcohol, eating before or while drinking, body weight, amount of time spent drinking and time since drinking, gender, and weight. Most people metabolize one drink per hour. Your ability to operate a motor vehicle is considered impaired by alcohol consumption if your drinking of alcohol has actually impaired the physical or mental abilities you are expected to possess in order to operate a vehicle as a reasonable and prudent driver would. No specific chemical or physical test is used to prove your abilities were impaired. Rather all facts and circumstances may be considered by the court. A DWAI is a violation, and as such, is less serious than a DWI, which is a criminal charge, but it can still have major repercussions.

Administrative License Hearing

You may have declined a chemical test in connection with your DWI. Under VTL 1192-3, your license may be revoked for six months for refusing to take a chemical test, such as a breathalyzer or blood test, and you may face a civil penalty, as well. We represent many clients in refusal hearings.

Other Criminal Charges

We also represent clients charged with assault, battery, drug possession, larceny, and property damage. Prosecutors must prove different elements to secure convictions for these crimes, but all must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. While this is a tough standard, the state has substantial resources at its disposal, and so it is crucial to consult counsel if you’ve been charged.

Contact Us

DWI and other alcohol-related charges must be taken seriously. Our firm handles defense of these charges along with representation in connection with conditional licenses, hardship licenses, drinking driver program (DDP), driver’s responsibility assessment, commercial licenses, zero tolerance law, and twenty day stays. If you were charged with driving under the influence or another alcohol-related offense, you should call our founder, Mark Siesel, a seasoned White Plains DWI lawyer with more than 30 years of experience as soon as possible. He represents those charged in in Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Queens, along with Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Sullivan, Rockland, Orange, and Ulster Counties. Call him at (914) 428-7386 or complete our online form.